412 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

(1) In commenting on the forty-second verse of the Veddnta-sitra, Sripad
Sankaracarya has claimed that Safkarsana is jfva, the ordinary living entity, but
there is no evidence in any Vedic scripture that devotees of the Lord have ever
said that Sahkarsana is an ordinary living entity. He is an infallible plenary expansion
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Visnu category, and He is beyond
the creation of material nature. He is the original source of the living entities. The
Upanisads declare, nityo nitydndm cetanas cetandnam: ‘‘He is the supreme living
entity among all the living entities.” Therefore He is vibhu-caitanya, the greatest.
He is directly the cause of the cosmic manifestation and the infinitesimal living
beings. He is the infinite living entity, and ordinary living entities are infinitesimal.
Therefore He is never to be considered an ordinary living being, for that would be
against the conclusion of the authorized scriptures. The living entities are also beyond
the limitations of birth and death. This is the version of the Vedas, and it is accepted
by those who follow scriptural injunctions and who have actually descended in the
disciplic succession.

(2) In answer to Sankaracarya’s commentary on the forty-third verse, it must be
said that the original Visnu of all the Visnu categories, which are distributed in
several ways, is Mila Safkarsana. Ma/a means ‘‘the original.’’ Sarikarsana is also
Visnu, but from Him all other Visnus expand. This is confirmed in the Brahma-
samhitd, wherein it is said that just as a flame transferred from another flame
acts like the original, so the Visnus who emanate from Mila Sankarsana are as good
as the original Visnu. One should worship that Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Govinda, who thus expands Himself.

(3) In reply to the commentary of Sanikaracarya on the forty-fourth verse, it may
be said that no pure devotees strictly following the principles of Paficardtra will
ever accept the statement that all the expansions of Visnu are different identities,
for this idea is completely false. Even Sripad Sankaracarya, in his commentary on
the forty-second verse, has accepted that the Personality of Godhead can auto-
matically expand Himself variously. Therefore his commentary on the forty-second
verse and his commentary on the forty-fourth verse are contradictory. It is a defect
of Mayavada commentaries that they make one statement in one place and acon-
tradictory statement in another place as a tactic to refute the Bhdgavata school.
Thus Mayavadf commentators do not even follow regulative principles. It should be
noted that the Bhdgavata school accepts the quadruple forms of Narayana, but that
does not mean that it accepts many Gods. Devotees know perfectly well that the
Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is one without a second. They
are never pantheists, worshipers of many Gods, for this is against the injunction of
the Vedas. Devotees completely believe, with strong faith, that Narayana is transcen-
dental and has inconceivable proprietorship of various transcendental potencies. We
therefore recommend that scholars consult the Laghu-bhdgavatamrta of Srila Ripa
Gosvami, where these ideas are explicitly stated. Sripad Sankaracarya has tried to
prove that Vasudeva, Sahkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand through
cause and effect. He has compared Them with earth and earthen pots. That is com-
pletely ignorant, however, for there is no such thing as cause and effect in Their ex-
